Painted Destiny
by yukuro
Summary: After somewhat unwillingly returning to the human world, Hiei discovers that not all things remain the same. It never was quite easy to discover the sudden chances of losing someone. [HieixKurama]


**Disclaimer:** Ah, how I only wish I own dear YYH…

**Pairing:** HieixKurama, Yuusuke+Kurama?

Painted Destiny

By: yukuro

Hiei was a demon that prided himself upon his lack of weaknesses. To be strong meant to have no flaws, no room for emotion whatsoever, and always be fearless. Hiei never liked to get attached to anyone. In the world he lived in, there was always a high chance anyone could die. They will all die eventually, and so it is best to remain a cold, heartless being without attachments and obligations to others. This was the way Hiei had planned his destiny out. However, not all things go according to plan.

There was Yukina. There were very few people that knew about Hiei's connection to Yukina. While in the deepest pits of his frosty heart Hiei had to admit he cared very much about his sister, she could not be associated as his weakness. He was protective, as any older brother would be, but no one had to know that. Hiei always had to make sure he covered up his weaknesses as well as possible, especially those revolving around petty human emotions.

The second person that brought Hiei out of his premeditated future was Kurama. Kurama was strong, no matter what form he took shape in, and Hiei had to respect him. He never wanted a partner, but somehow, Kurama made some of the problem easier to deal with. Of course, he would never admit this to anyone either.

As time progressed, Hiei could hardly even convince himself he had not fallen prey to at least some human sentiments. How he had ended up in such a position, he was rather unaware of himself. It had been too easy to "like" Yuusuke, even though he truly did deserve respect. Though he hated it, Hiei had to wonder if these developments actually made him weaker or stronger. In the end he resolved that sometimes distance can be the right answer.

After he finished his proper duties for Reikai, Hiei stayed in the world he supposed he was meant to stay in, away from Yuusuke, Kurama, and even Yukina. This arrangement hardly bothered him most of the time. There were only a few rare times when something awkwardly turned in his stomach, wondering what those irritating former companions, if he could even call them that, were doing. He rarely exposed his weakness, so he kept his awkward reminisce to a minimum.

For a while, things became as close to peaceful as Hiei could describe it. If he had been any other being, he would have been able to say that he was almost generally happy. Things between the worlds were more or less calm and Hiei was never troubled. That is, until his dreams decided to change.

After the first odd dream, Hiei thought nothing of it. There could have been a thousand possible explanations for one awkward dream. Despite all the possible reasons, Hiei unconsciously took it as a foreboding warning. His mind scowled at him to ignore unimportant matters and focus, but his stomach still silently turned beyond his control.

Something was happening, and something was trying to warn Hiei about it. Kurama appeared in his dreams several times, but not in the way Hiei remembered. He remembered his partner as strong, always smiling in that annoyingly calm manner of his. Why then in his dreams did Kurama appear to be crushed? None of that should have mattered to Hiei though. He had no weaknesses, so he could not care.

Though Hiei always did his best to ignore them, the dreams began to eat him alive. He began to wake up during his slumber, eyes wide partly from anger and partly from pain. Dreams as warnings, the people he had learned to respect being crushed before him; for the first time, Hiei felt out of control. The only way to rid himself of such irritating dreams was to encounter those people he had left behind again.

"Going somewhere?" Mukuro asked with slight amusement as Hiei silently prepared for his leave. "Have some friends in Ningenkai you feel like visiting, Hiei?"

"None of your business," Hiei muttered gruffly as he stepped past the other demon. "I'll be back later."

Without further explanation, Hiei left the world he always wanted to stay in. His home, if he could call it that, and the place he belonged was in Makai. He had always resented everything about humans and their world, hoping never to return there, and yet he was now going back again. Of course, he reminded himself, that this was only for his own benefit. Those dreams were really quite annoying.

It was a bit more difficult to find his way around the world than Hiei had remembered. He never had many places to go, so he never bothered learning his way around. He stopped by Genkai's temple to check on Yukina from afar, just to make sure the human oaf that he loathed so much had not completely smothered her to death. Before anyone could notice his presence, Hiei disappeared again.

Hiei did not know where else to go. He had not the slightest idea where to find Kurama, Yuusuke, or even Kuwabara. He had tried to focus on searching for Kurama's youki, but somehow the familiar spirit was hardly in the air at all. If he was not a cold-hearted demon, he might have been worried.

By the time Hiei spotted Yukimura Keiko wandering down the sidewalk, he had began to feel too impatient to search for everyone on his own, so he began to follow Keiko at a distance. Though he was growing impatient, he did not want to completely make his presence known immediately.

"How is Kurama-kun's condition today?" Keiko asked Kuwabara as they stood outside their companion's room.

From outside, there was a gentle stab of pain in Hiei's chest. The way he felt was unexplainable. It was irritating because he knew he was supposed to feel nothing at all.

"I'm not sure, but Urameshi's inside with him right now. Just like he always is everyday. I wish they wouldn't keep this a secret from us. It's not like we can't handle the truth…"

By then, Hiei had jumped from tree branch to branch until he had a clear view of what was going on in the room where his companions were. What he saw inside made him somehow burn with jealousy, anger, and annoyance all at once. Kurama, in his frail human form, lay in a bed sleeping lightly while Yuusuke sat in a chair at the side of the bed, clasping onto the redhead's hand tightly.

Kurama stirred unconsciously, feeling something familiar in the air, and opened his eyes slowly. Seeing Yuusuke stare down at him with a serious and concerned expression, Kurama smiled sheepishly before sitting up. "You don't always have to stay here with me everyday. I'm sure you have better things to do than watch me all the time."

"Sorry, but I'm concerned," Yuusuke replied, returning his companion's somewhat sheepish smile. Squeezing the other boy's hand slightly in a friendly manner, he went on, "Besides, you're a little vulnerable in this state, Kurama. Even though the portal should be covered, you never know what can happen."

"I appreciate you trying to protect me, but it can't last forever," Kurama said in response with a carefree smile. "I can feel the irregular levels of youki in my body surging. It's hard to maintain it properly now."

"You don't have to say that like you're giving up now," Yuusuke said a bit gruffly, poking the side of his friend's face somewhat playfully. "Sleep more if you have to, but I don't want to hear any nonsense about you giving up on yourself, got it?"

"Hai, hai. But you know I also don't really like lying here like I'm completely helpless all the time either," Kurama said with a slight laugh. As his soft laughter faded, his green eyes lost a bit of their shine and his tone grew grave and serious. "Yuusuke, actually, I don't know if…"

"Urameshi! Kurama!" exclaimed Kuwabara as he burst into the room, interrupting the redhead mid-sentence. "Yukimura's here!"

"Thanks, Kuwabara," Yuusuke muttered, slightly annoyed that the other boy had interrupted something that seemed important at the moment. "By the way, can you check to see who's at the window watching us?"

Puzzled, Kuwabara made his way towards the window. Before he could open it to look out, Hiei slipped into the room, stripping his expression of the emotions he had previously been feeling. Ignoring the way Kuwabara was staring at him in surprise, Hiei directed his gaze directly at Yuusuke.

"Long time no see," Yuusuke commented, not bothering to rise from his place next to Kurama's bed. He only let go of Kurama's hand when Hiei's sharp red glare turned on their linked hands. Yuusuke grinned slightly. "So what do we owe this honor?"

Ignoring him, Hiei disappeared for a moment and at the next appeared next to Kurama. His red eyes examined his smiling partner's body for a moment before fixing their gaze on his face. "What's wrong with you?"

"It's nice to see you too, Hiei," Kurama said pleasantly with a smile. "I did miss you a bit. Ah, and it seems you've gotten quite a bit taller as well."

Hiei narrowed his eyes down, suspicion clouding his red gaze. He always did hate it when Kurama smiled so kindly at him or used stupid words to get around the topic. As he frowned down at the redhead, Hiei forgot he was not supposed to be so easily provoked with emotions. "Kurama, you…"

"Yes?" Kurama asked with a soft smile, ignoring how aggravated Hiei looked. He smiled just as pleasantly as always, making everything seem fine, almost as if nothing had happened even while he knew things were slowly getting worse.

Just as Hiei narrowed his eyes down at the redhead, Keiko entered with the human that Kurama called "mother." The woman had kind eyes, tired but still loving. At the sight of the small crowd in the room, she smiled brightly. "I brought you some fresh fruit, Shuichi. How are you today?"

"I'm much better already," Kurama said brightly, smiling for the woman. "Please don't worry too much, kaa-san. The only reason I'm in bed is because Yuusuke made me."

The woman then turned to Yuusuke to smile gratefully. "Yuusuke-kun, thank you for always taking care of Shuichi everyday. He worries so much about other things he sometimes forgets to worry about himself."

"Kaa-san!" Kurama exclaimed slightly in embarrassment when Yuusuke grinned down at him.

"It's no problem, oba-san," Yuusuke said with a slight bow and politeness that shocked Kuwabara. Grinning, he went on purposely to embarrass Kurama a bit, "I promise I've been taking good care of your son."

"It's always nice to see you, Yuusuke-kun," the woman said brightly, smiling with a content expression. "I'm glad Shuichi's been able to make such a nice friend." She turned slightly, noticing Hiei standing alone in the corner. "I've never met you before. Are you one of Shuichi's friends too?"

Hiei glanced at the woman before glancing at Kurama once. They both had the same soft smile on their face that Hiei always found so irritating. Even though he hated the kindness in her voice, Hiei could not bring himself to say something cruel back to her. Turning towards the window and stepping towards it, he found himself muttering back in response, "Something like that."

The woman smiled widely at the fire demon's back, sincerely happy. "Thank you so much for visiting Shuichi. I know he doesn't have many close friends around him."

Silence spread between all present in the room as the woman set down the fruit she had brought for her son and prepared to leave again. Turning, the woman dried a few tears that threatened to fall from her eyes before flashing the redhead a bright smile. "I'll come back again later, Shuichi. It was nice to see you again, Yuusuke-kun and it was nice to meet the rest of you as well."

Once the door shut quickly, it seemed as if all present in the room were able to breathe again. While Yuusuke breezily chatted with Keiko while running a hand roughly through his hair, Kurama silently watched Hiei soundlessly slip out the window again.

--- ---

No one noticed Hiei outside of the window after that. Though he was a bit far away, he was sure that Yuusuke would have felt his presence if he actually tried to. If Yuusuke or any of the others had noticed him, none of them went out of the way to bother him or so much as give him a glance. There was one exception of course.

Kurama knew he was there. Hiei would often see Kurama's green eyes slipping away from the room and out the window every now and then to gaze directly at Hiei. Each time their eyes met, Kurama would smile as if everything was perfectly fine. Somehow the tight bond that they had once shared as partners was beginning to loosen slightly and though it should not have bothered Hiei, he began to feel rage mixed with confusion boiling within him.

Slowly, the sun began to slip away behind the mountains and one by one, Kurama's visitors left the room until only Yuusuke remained. As Hiei gazed in on the two speaking, sometimes cheerfully and sometimes seriously, he felt a temporary dislike for Yuusuke fill him. Every time Yuusuke would reach out to ruffle the redhead's hair with an amused grin, every time he touched Kurama's shoulder, every time he acted so intimately with the redhead with his eyes shimmering with concern, Hiei felt the flame within him burn strong. Since when did those two become such good friends anyway? Hiei wondered bitterly.

It was jealousy. At least, this is what normal beings would consider such feelings. On the contrary, Hiei was no ordinary being.

The moon was already high in the sky and the stars were twinkling brightly when Yuusuke finally stood up in preparation to leave. As the boy was leaving the room, he glanced over his shoulder out the window at Hiei and cast a rough yet friendly grin. Without even giving Hiei time to blink, Yuusuke disappeared from view out the door.

Making sure there was no one else around, Hiei cautiously approached the window again. Just as he perched on the windowsill, Hiei noticed the distant and almost pained expression on Kurama's face. Hopping lightly into the room, Hiei shut the window after him and closed the curtains, partly to prevent people spying in on them and partly to keep the wind out, he admitted to himself with quite a bit of trouble.

"You finally came inside," Kurama noted with a smile directed at the youkai. He moved to sit on the edge of his bed to stretch his limbs before going on, "I was wondering when you would. I guess you must not have wanted to be with Yuusuke, right?"

Somehow, Hiei thought, that Kurama's smile that usually radiated true kindness and extended his cheerful demeanor suddenly seemed dead. Those green eyes that always had flecks of sunlight dancing in them suddenly appeared to be deep holes of darkness. The worst part was that Kurama seemed unaware of the changes.

In a flash, Hiei was standing before Kurama, jerking the redhead's chin up so their gazes met. "What's wrong with you?" he muttered, searching the green eyes before him for the intensity he once knew. "These eyes aren't the eyes I remember."

"Just the effects of a simple human illness," Kurama replied, a smile still on his lips. "An ordinary human would have died, but the damage to my human body only disturbs my youki a bit. Ah, but that's enough about that. I'm glad you've come back to Ningenkai, Hiei. Even if this is just for a visit. Did you come to check on Yukina?"

"Don't dodge the topic," Hiei said coldly, red eyes narrowing down. Before he could say another word, the already pale Kurama grew a bit paler and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Hiei's eyes widened slightly when a brief expression of pain crossed Kurama's, face and before he could understand what was happening, Kurama leaned heavily on his shoulder, gasping painfully for breath.

For the first time in a very long time, Hiei felt the tingle of fright in his gut. He knew Kurama was suffering, but because he did not know what to do, he could only sit silently as Kurama clung to him in reluctant desperation. Once Kurama's breathing steadied again, Hiei closed his eyes and found his arm moving on its own to creep up to the side of Kurama's face. Quietly he muttered sarcastically, "Just the effects of a _simple_ human illness, huh?"

"I'm sorry," Kurama said quickly with slight embarrassment, pulling away to flop himself back onto his bed. He sighed heavily as he murmured to himself, "I thought I would be alright today too. I wanted to meet Hiei so I sent Yuusuke out rather quickly. Was that a bad choice?"

Hiei stiffened at the words his sensitive hearing had picked up. Turning away to direct his gaze at an invisible speck on the wall, he demanded coldly, "What do you need him here for anyway?"

As Kurama reached over to take his medicine, he snuck out a tiny laugh before teasing, "You'd be angry if you knew."

"I would not," Hiei scowled, already feeling angry.

Swallowing a mouthful of water, Kurama sat back against his pillows with an amused smile. "Like I said, because of this illness, my youki levels are becoming irregular. They drop and rise dramatically at random times. Yuusuke has been here often to keep the levels in check. When I have too much, he'll take some away and when I have too little, he transfers some back to me. Without him I probably would be much worse off than I am now."

"And just how does he do that?" Hiei asked, already feeling the anger and annoyance build up within him.

"Ah, this is the part I was worried you might be angry about," Kurama said cheerfully. "Do you remember hearing the story of how Yuusuke returned to his body the first time he was killed in that car accident? I suppose you can say what he does for me is a bit similar to what Keiko did to revive him."

Hiei felt his eye twitch when the annoyance and anger boiled to the top on the inside. Squeezing his eyes shut, he scowled under his breath to himself, making Kurama smile more.

Suddenly without warning, the sound of coughing and desperate gasps for air filled the room again, making Hiei's eyes snap open. Kurama placed a hand over his mouth to stifle the sound but his body shook violently in response. At that moment as he observed, somehow, below the dark walls and ice that Hiei had formed around his emotions, his heart seemed to stop. Without thinking, he reached over and sent his lips crashing into the redhead's with eyes squeezed shut. He did not dare part until he felt Kurama's body returning to normal again.

As their heated lips parted, Kurama began to chuckle just as Hiei turned away to stare at the wall again. Running a hand through his tousled red hair, Kurama smiled softly at Hiei's profile. "Thank you. Although the procedure really isn't as simple as that, I feel that I can get better faster as long as it's you."

"Don't say such stupid things," Hiei muttered, feeling embarrassed. He really did not know why he had done something so rash in such a ridiculous manner. His body had moved by itself. The only thing that bothered him more than that was the feelings that began to stir the dark corners of his heart.

Closing his eyes, Kurama laid his hands over his heart. Slowly with a bitter smile, he said quietly, "This body is growing weaker. It's hard to maintain myself like this. Yuusuke believes brightly and honestly that I'll get better soon and I suppose I can only hope so too. The chances are quite even after all. This feeling that pains so much can surely be cured by hope, can't it?"

Silently, Hiei observed the redhead slide back into bed with a slight sigh. Vaguely, he felt a tingle of an emotion glide through. This time, he paid no heed to stop it. It was strange the way Kurama could seize all of his concerns he wished he never had in just a second. A disturbing bit of pain was beginning to form. Somehow, he felt that if he were to leave again, Kurama might completely disappear.

"The lives each person lives always has a painted destiny," Kurama muttered as he closed his eyes and settled in bed with a tiny smile that began to fade slowly. "Each life has a destiny to be followed that is already down in ink. From too far away, people can't see the picture painted by their own destiny. They can only continue to live until their destiny is clear to them. No person can look at another's picture because each destiny is different."

Hiei watched silently as the redhead's words softened and his breathing grew more even as he slipped into sleep.

"I wonder what picture I will see when I get close enough," Kurama muttered softly. "From here, I can already tell the colors are quite beautiful. Hiei, I really am very happy to see you here."

Body moving on its own, Hiei watched his own hand reach out to trace over Kurama's facial features softly. Kurama had a weary face but a still soft expression, Hiei noticed. As the redhead's consciousness slowly slipped away, Hiei stepped back and turned the lights off.

"Good night, Kurama."

Owari.

--- --- ---

**A/N:** Fear my invasion of YYH! XD Ah, and I've started out with such an obscure plotline/ending as well. I tried hard to characterize proficiently and tell a good story as well. Eep. I hope that was alright.

Oh, and yes, what indeed has happened to Kurama? Hmm… x)

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the fic.


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